How Emotionally Intelligent People Deal With Anger

25 Nov , 2015

Anger can be good–if kept under control. Anger is an extremely powerful emotion. If you display it constantly, others will avoid you like the plague. On the other hand, keep it bottled up inside and you become a pressure cooker that will inevitably blow its top–leading to actions that you later regret.

Emotional intelligence (EQ), or the ability to recognize and understand emotions, and then use that information to guide decision making, is extremely useful in helping you to deal with anger effectively.

Save your energy.

EQ will lead you to recognize that you have to choose your battles.

For example, a situation may cause you to become angry because you don’t fully understand it. You might witness an action and perceive it to be an injustice, but every situation has context and background, much of which you aren’t privy to. Keeping that point in mind will keep you from butting into situations that really don’t involve you.

And if certain people or situations get your blood boiling (and you don’t need them for your everyday work), why not simply avoid them to the extent possible?

A balanced view.

The truth is, there are plenty of instances when you’re right to get angry.

For example, let’s say a certain colleague of yours really gets on your nerves. You know the type–always leaving unwashed dishes in the sink, constantly complaining, often disrespectful. You’ve endured this behavior for a while, and one day you’re moved to do something about it.

Your anger is producing something positive: It’s time to address an unacceptable situation.

So, how do you move forward? You could simply go off on your colleague, calling him out publicly on all of his negative behaviors and telling him that everyone’s sick and tired of it. Will that change his behavior? Possibly. But is that really how you want to handle the situation? Not only will this adversely affect your relationship with this co-worker, but you may damage your reputation and that of others as well.

In contrast, if you take time to think your actions and their consequences through, your strategy will be much more effective. Of course, in the heat of the moment, you won’t always be inspired to sit back and reflect on the situation. That’s why it’s important to learn to keep control.

Controlling your anger.

Anger is like fire. It can be a useful tool, or it can be hideously destructive.

Certain situations require an immediate response, as when you witness some type of abuse or bullying, be it physical or psychological. But in other cases, smaller things could cause your anger to build up to the point at which you’re in danger of losing control of your emotions.

If you feel that’s happening to you, try the following:

1. Leave.

If you’re in the middle of an extremely uncomfortable situation, it’s difficult to not say the first thing that comes to mind. Before doing or saying something that you’ll surely regret, get yourself away from the situation.